Lesser-known trail follows path of Las Vegas Beltway

Bicyclists, pedestrians and joggers can make use of route

louie traub/VIEWA bicyclist rides across a bridge along a trail that runs along the Las Vegas Beltway. Currently, the path separates in many places, but eventually it is expected to join with other trails to connect riders throughout the valley. Advertisement

As people cruise down the Las Vegas Beltway at 65 miles per hour, most of them probably are not aware that in many places, just beyond a wall, there is another route, one that prohibits all motor vehicle traffic. On any given day, there are pedestrians, joggers and bicyclists using this lesser-known trail that runs parallel to the Beltway. Eventually, it will become a small part of a planned web of bike trails around the valley, said Scott Hagen, senior planner at the Clark County Comprehensive Planning Department.

"The bike trails are long, multi-stepped and often multi- segmented projects," Hagen said.

"There's a lot of planning that goes into it before they actually get built, and some sections will be done long before others, but they will eventually connect."

Currently, the path separates in a number of places where it would have been difficult to add a bike trail when the road originally was built, such as the major interchange where the Beltway crosses Interstate 15.

In the southeast, the trail picks up at Warm Springs Road on the west side of the Beltway. It runs alongside the Beltway to Pecos Road, often separated from the highway by a sound barrier wall.

The only spot on the southwest portion of the trail where the two routes can see each other is just south of Windmill Lane, where they're separated by a wide swath of gravel and a hurricane fence.

At the beginning of the trail near Warm Springs Road, there is a section of desert landscaped trail.

"Generally near trail heads, there are more amenities, such as landscaping," Hagen said. "Landscaping can be problematic. There are pipes that will need repair and plants that would need to be replaced, so it's not financially feasible to landscape the whole trail."

For much of the trail, cyclists ride between the sound barrier wall and the cinder block walls, which typify so much of the valley's neighborhoods.

However, riders seem happy to trade the view for a safer route on which they don't have to compete with motor vehicles. Bill Johnson, who describes himself as the chief volunteer at Bike Shop at 2570 Wigwam Parkway in Henderson, uses the trail regularly.

"It's a good trail," he said. "It'd be nice if they finished it."

Johnson is referring to sections outside of the southeast that are unpaved. He sometimes uses the trail to commute the 11 miles from Bike Shop to his Mission Hills home.

"For me, it's ideal. I hardly have to compete with cars at all," he said.

People have asked about lighting the trail, particularly for the summer months when the trail would make for excellent riding in the marginally cooler nighttime. According to Hagen, that's not likely to happen, again because of the cost.

"Aside from the initial install, there is also maintenance and repair of vandalism that make lights a money issue," Hagen said. "Also, they would be inappropriate in some areas where the trail backs up against a resident backyard."

Johnson noted another stumbling block. "At one section of my commute, there are some lights, where it runs through a neighborhood," he said, "but people keep stealing the copper wire."

Hagen said the eventual plan is to have a group of interconnecting bike trails following the Beltway, railroad tracks and washes.

"We can't really say that we'll have a specific number of miles of trails by such and such a time," Hagen said, " but within the next two or three years, we'll be connecting a lot of the dots.

"Unfortunately, a lot of washes are being diverted into box culverts and having buildings constructed on top of them," he said. "When that happens, we have to reroute the trail, usually onto the road."